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Executive Regulations of Competitio

Executive Regulations of Competition Law Amended, Once More: The Amendment Narrows Some Concepts and Requires Reporting of Mergers and Acquisitions
Prime Ministerial Decree Number 2957 of 2010 was issued, amending the Executive Regulations of Competition Law Number 1316 of 2005 (and published in the Official Journal on November 13th, 2010). It is effective as of the following day of publication.
Key Changes
The amendment introduces two new ideas; the First is that it narrows down some of the concepts regarding monopolistic behavior, especially those pertaining to division of market (i.e. the agreement between competitors that each will have control over a certain geographical location, type of customers, seasons, products, quotas, etc), restrictive production, refusing to enter into agreements in order to harm competition, and discrimination among providers. The immediate effect of these conceptual changes is that companies with potential control should seek legal advice on the applicability of these changes in order to avoid breaking the new rules. The second idea concerns the process of mergers and acquisitions, and it requires that any operation of merger, acquisition, control over assets or joint management of more than one entity must be reported to the Competition Authority if the result of that process is an annual turnover that exceeds one hundred million Egyptian pounds. Such notification must be made within thirty days of the completion of the transaction. This, it should be noted, is not a condition for the completion of the transaction but a subsequent notification of events which could lead to monopolistic situations.
Conclusion
There are two problems with the new changes. The first is that the Competition Law itself and its Executive Regulations have been amended too many times in the last couple of years in a manner that is not conducive to the sense of stability of law. Even if all the changes are required, their introduction in this gradual manner is not good legislative policy. The other concern is that notification of mergers and acquisitions on the basis of annual turnover is random as it may not be significant in all cases, and should have been tied to more industry specific criteria.
Prime Ministerial Decree Number 2957 of 2010 was issued, amending the Executive Regulations of Competition Law Number 1316 of 2005 (and published in the Official Journal on November 13th, 2010). It is effective as of the following day of publication.
Key Changes
The amendment introduces two new ideas; the First is that it narrows down some of the concepts regarding monopolistic behavior, especially those pertaining to division of market (i.e. the agreement between competitors that each will have control over a certain geographical location, type of customers, seasons, products, quotas, etc), restrictive production, refusing to enter into agreements in order to harm competition, and discrimination among providers. The immediate effect of these conceptual changes is that companies with potential control should seek legal advice on the applicability of these changes in order to avoid breaking the new rules. The second idea concerns the process of mergers and acquisitions, and it requires that any operation of merger, acquisition, control over assets or joint management of more than one entity must be reported to the Competition Authority if the result of that process is an annual turnover that exceeds one hundred million Egyptian pounds. Such notification must be made within thirty days of the completion of the transaction. This, it should be noted, is not a condition for the completion of the transaction but a subsequent notification of events which could lead to monopolistic situations.
Conclusion
There are two problems with the new changes. The first is that the Competition Law itself and its Executive Regulations have been amended too many times in the last couple of years in a manner that is not conducive to the sense of stability of law. Even if all the changes are required, their introduction in this gradual manner is not good legislative policy. The other concern is that notification of mergers and acquisitions on the basis of annual turnover is random as it may not be significant in all cases, and should have been tied to more industry specific criteria.